Layered coffee & chocolate ice cubes over Irish Creme

This officially marks the beginning of my new series: TGIF! Each Friday afternoon I’ll be bringing you a new cocktail or drink recipe to help kick-start your weekend. To set us off on the right foot I’ve got a delicious campfire treat – it’s best served with a side of smores and can be customized to suit your needs. I originally saw this recipe on House Beautiful // here // and my only modification here is that I find them best served over Irish Creme aka Baileys. These layered coffee & chocolate ice cubes over irish creme are just what you need to get the weekend started off right!

Others in the series

Maple Whisky Milkshake  // Spicy Pomegranate Margarita // Cocktail Freezies // Pink Pearl // Peach & Honey Moscow Mule // London Lemonade // Blackberry Mint Julep // Bacon & Green Bean Ceasar

You could easily modify these for coconut or almond milk and add any kind of liqueur you can think of. The sky is the limit! I’ve even got a fun one in mind with shredded coconut.

Ingredients

• 3 cups black coffee, cold
• ½ cup chocolate milk
• Irish Creme
• Ice cube tray – preferably a silicone one that makes for an easy pop-out so that you don’t have to run the tray under warm water first!
• Access to a freezer

Step 1: Start by planning your layers. I was working with a smaller tray, otherwise I would have had many more intricate layers. This little standard one did just fine though. I opted for the chocolate milk & coffee mix, but you could mix it up and use irish creme instead of coffee, and then add these to cold coffee – inverse it if you will.

Step 2: Add your first layer and then freeze it, about 15-20 mins. If you made the coffee just for this, make sure you chill the coffee so that it doesn’t melt previous layers each time you add it.

Step 3: Add your second layer, and repeat until the tray is full. Total time, maybe an hour start to finish unless you have a blast chiller.

Once these suckers are frozen solid, remove them from the tray and place them in a bowl or tupperware in your freezer for easy access and service. I placed mine in a cute ramekin for ease, and that made my life 100% easier when I wanted to bring the bowl out so that my guests could serve themselves.

Last night was a little chilly so I had the brazier going on the table // here // and brought out a sheepskin or two for the seating area.

To make your layered coffee & chocolate ice cubes over Irish Creme you need a lowball glass, a straw and a spoon or set of ice tongs.

Simply add the desired amount of ice cubes to the glass – don’t forget there is coffee in those, so too many may keep you up.

and then cover in a generous helping of irish creme! I can’t get enough of it during the winter, especially before Christmas, and at our last posting “coffeebaileys” (all one word) – as they called it – was the preferred beverage for mess events in the A.M.. I also happen to enjoy it by the campfire in the summer, especially with marshmallows and smores.

Do you like the funky glassware? Another thrifted find of mine. I snagged these guys locally in a set of 4 and have been using them for smaller, daintier beverages that require a lowball. I prefer scotch, whiskey, or anything with a big flavour and aroma to have a larger glass.

I made those colourful napkins last summer as part of the #12monthsofDIY series and you can view my tutorial // here //. I think they were the perfect compliment to my buffalo check table runner and all my summery accessories from the One Room Challenge and HomeSense // here //

I also have a major sweet tooth (ask Dan about it), so smores are an”always, all year, yes please, absolutely” kinda thing for me come summer time. I know you can cheat and use the digestif cookies already covered in chocolate, or add marshmallows inside a kinder egg (which is delicious) but a good ole’ fashioned graham cracker, Hershey’s chocolate and marshmallows are as close to childhood summers as we can get.